Save Me
by Songwind
Summary: Xellos as a little boy. His mother has a sickness... idea sprung from "Mister Funny Man" Please review!


Save Me  
By Songwind  
Notes- This is an idea I got when I was writing "Mister Funny-Man." When I thought about it, I wondered "Why the heck not?" and so this is the result. Please note this is following the idea that Xellos was originally a human and was transformed into a Mazoku. Let me know what you think, alright? Thanks!  
Disclaimer- I don't own Slayers.  
  
~*~  
  
"She's got that wasting sickness. There's nothing we can do."  
  
"What about the boy? Does he have it too?"  
  
"Hmm. No, he doesn't have any of the symptoms the mother has, but he does look tired. We should get him away from the bedside. It's not healthy for children to hang around deathbeds like this."  
  
Xellos heard this, but couldn't really understand what the Wise Man and the Elder of his village were talking about. He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, determined not to cry this time no matter what they did to try and get him to leave.   
  
He was sitting on a stool that was almost too big for him next to a bed in a small cottage where he and his mother lived together. There had never been a father or a sibling- it had always just been him and his mother. And now she was sick.  
  
Very sick. Mother was very pale, and very thin. She didn't eat much anymore, she said it hurt her stomach. She only ate enough to keep living and stay with her boy. But she said she felt better when he talked to her. So he started talking to her again, deciding to ignore the men talking behind him. Xellos touched one of her hands.  
  
"Momma, I'm here," he said softly. "The men want me to leave you alone. But don't worry, I'm not leaving. And I'm not gonna cry. Big boys don't cry, so I'm not crying. See, momma? I'm not crying." He smiled a little to prove it.  
  
His mother didn't respond, just lay there with her eyes closed. Her breathing rasped. Sometimes she coughed in her sleep, and Xellos would squeeze her hand until she stopped.   
  
"I'll keep the bad cough from you," he promised his mother. "And I won't let the men hurt you or nothin'."  
  
"...only seven years old, man! What're we going to do with him?"  
  
"An apprenticeship, maybe? He always went over to the blacksmith's to watch him," the Elder suggested.  
  
"No, he doesn't have the build for it. And he hasn't the patience, either. Remember when we let him watch a flock of sheep for a day? We lost close to half of them because he ran off to play in a nearby stream."  
  
"Oh, right. Well, what do you suggest?"  
  
"Maybe he can go with the next merchant to another town and learn the trade..."  
  
Xellos' eyes widened and he clutched at his mother's hand. "Momma! They're gonna send me away!" he said.  
  
"...Xellos?" a soft voice asked from the bed.  
  
"Momma, you're awake!" Xellos said happily. "You'll tell 'em not to send me away, right?"  
  
"Of course, dear... they can't send you away... not when I'm here..." The woman opened her eyes slightly and smiled faintly.  
  
"Oh, momma, I'm so happy."  
  
"I'm glad. Will you tell me one of your stories, Xellos?"  
  
Xellos clapped his hands, forgetting his worries for a moment. If she said they wouldn't send him away, then they wouldn't send him away. "Alright, momma!"  
  
He started with a tale that she had told him many times, how a young girl was captured by a demon (though no one really believed in demons) and taken to a dark kingdom. Then he told how a strong swordsman (who sounded remarkably like Xellos) saved the girl and defeated the demon. He even went so far as to make gestures along with the story.  
  
When he couldn't think of anything to add, he stopped and looked at his mother. "Didja like it, momma?" he asked.  
  
"Yes, very much. Thank you, dear..."  
  
"You're welcome, momma."  
  
But his mother was already drifting back to sleep again. He took her hand and squeezed it. "I love you, momma," he whispered.  
  
When she was sleeping again, he sat there still holding her hand as he listened to the men behind him.  
  
"...got quite an imagination, the boy does..."  
  
"Maybe... a storyteller?"  
  
"Perhaps. Bards can be paid well, if he learned how to sing too..."  
  
Xellos didn't know what a Bard was, but they weren't talking about sending him away from his mother anymore so he was happy. He felt a little sleepy, so he got off the stool and lay down on his mother's bed, snuggling in with her.   
  
"...get the boy away from her! He might catch it..."  
  
"No, would've caught it by now... but better get him used to the idea..."  
  
Xellos drifted off to sleep.  
  
~*~  
  
He awoke to find himself in a strange cottage, and jumped up in alarm. The Elder of his village looked at him.  
  
"So, sleepy one, you are awake," he said.  
  
"Where's my momma?" Xellos demanded, looking disbelievingly at the Elder.  
  
"In her cottage. Now, Xellos, don't get upset. We don't want you getting sick too..."  
  
"I don't care, I promised I'd stay by her side an', an' keep the cough away!" Xellos struggled out of his blankets and started towards the door. The Elder put a hand on his shoulder. "Leggo of me!"  
  
"You will not see your mother today. She's very tired."  
  
"Well, of COURSE she is!" Xellos declared. "I'm not there to keep her coughs away like I said I would an' you're not lettin' me go! She wants to hear my stories again!"  
  
"She can't hear you when she's asleep, boy," the Elder said, sounding a little impatient.  
  
"She says it helps! LET ME GO." Xellos knocked the man's hand away from his shoulder and ran out the door as fast as his little legs could carry him.  
  
A few villagers watched him race by with curiosity, sympathy, even impatience, but no one tried to stop him. Xellos considered sticking his tongue out at the lot of them, but it would probably just serve to keep him away from his mother longer. So he kept his tongue in his mouth and kept running.  
  
When he reached the cottage, he very nearly lost it and began to cry. His mother was so weak looking, why didn't they keep him there? He immediately clambered up into the bed and curled up with her, stroking her face with a tiny hand.  
  
"I'm here now, momma," he whispered. "I'm back, and I won't fall asleep again. I'll make sure you'll get better."  
  
His mother didn't respond, but he imagined her breathing was coming easier now he was there. With that thought in mind he happily continued talking to her.  
  
"...damn it, back in there!"  
  
"Wasn't my fault..."  
  
"...just a kid, for the gods' sake! Leave him alone, let him be with his mother..."  
  
Xellos ignored them and continued talking.   
  
Finally, his mother opened an eye. "X-Xellos? Where are you..." she whispered.  
  
"Right here, momma," he said, happy to finally get a response. "Didja hear me talking to you?"  
  
"Yes... Xellos, I'm... very, very tired. Remember when I told you bedtime stories?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Can you... tell me one of your stories? I love them so..."  
  
"OK!" Xellos immediately began telling a story.   
  
As he told it, his mother smiled faintly and he thought she looked a little better the longer he kept talking. However, his mind was only a few years old, and he couldn't talk for long without repeating himself. Finally he stopped and said, "I'm done, momma. Didja like it?"  
  
"I loved it..." His mother smiled very, very faintly. "Thank you... love... thank you... Xellos..." She sighed and closed her eyes.  
  
"You goin' to sleep now?" Xellos whispered, touching her face. She didn't stir. "OK, I'll wait."  
  
~*~  
  
Xellos woke, this time finding himself surrounded by the men of the village. Confused, he asked, "What'm I doin' here again?" He was in the Elder's bed once again. "Where's momma?"  
  
"She's..." The Elder paused. "She's asleep, boy," he finally said gruffly.  
  
There was something in the Elder's tone that Xellos didn't like. "Then lemme go see her and talk to her! She says it helps..." he faltered when he saw faces of sympathy. "What?"  
  
"She... won't wake up this time, Xellos," one of the younger men said gently. "We tried, but she won't be with us anymore..."  
  
Xellos stared at the group of faces he barely knew, and shook his head. "No, that can't be right. She said she was tired, she'd sleep for a while, everyone sleeps don't they?" he demanded.  
  
"Well, yes, eventually. But she's NOT WAKING UP. She's... dead, boy."  
  
His violet eyes opened wide. "No, no that's wrong, she said I helped her..." When there was no response he started repeating, "Can't be right, can't be can't be, she said I helped, can't be dead..."  
  
When no one responded, he began shrieking, "It's not true! You're all lying! She's not dead, she can't be! You just want to send me off with some ugly guy an' LET her die, you all liars..." He turned on the Elder. "YOU! It's YOUR FAULT! You didn't let me help her!" he shrieked, and lunged at him.  
  
They beat him off the Elder and, screaming, he raced out into the village without seeing anything.  
  
"Momma, momma, you're alive, you gotta be," he choked.   
  
He tore into the small cottage and stared at the bed incredulously. It was made up very neatly, with a few flowers strewn about it. But his mother was gone.  
  
"NO!" He screamed and hit the bed. "Bring her BACK!"   
  
He continued hitting the bed and screaming, but his mother didn't show up. The loss was incredible. Tears ran down his face as he finally stopped, staring at the bed helplessly. "Why?" he asked softly. "I tried, momma..."  
  
"Poor boy," said a female voice from behind him.  
  
He gasped and turned, to see an unfamiliar- but beautiful- woman standing in front of him. "Who're you?" he asked.  
  
"I'm Zelas. I'm here to help you, Xellos." She knelt down, and he thought he saw real sympathy in her eyes. "If I could, I'd bring your mother back," she told him.  
  
"You, would?" That was enough for him. He began crying and buried himself in this woman Zelas' arms. "Why?" he sobbed. "Why'd she die? I tried, she said I made her better, but she's gone..."  
  
"Oh, boy, you'll see her again," Zelas murmured. "One day, a long way away from now, but you'll see her again."  
  
"I will?"  
  
"Yes. But until then, she'll be watching over you, you know. She's up there, making sure you're a good boy," Zelas said, pointing to the sky.  
  
"Really?" He looked up.  
  
"You can't see her," Zelas said quickly. "But she's there. Anyway, I'm here to help you out, Xellos."  
  
"Wh- why? With what?" he asked, somewhat suspiciously.  
  
"How would you like to come with me? There's nothing for you here, and those mean elders will only send you away and make fun of you."  
  
That was true. "So what'll you do?"  
  
"I'll give you a family," Zelas said earnestly. "What do you say?"  
  
Xellos looked at her a very long time, at the earnest look on her face. There was something... different about her. Something wrong with her eyes? "What's with your eyes? They're closed. Are you blind or something?" he asked.  
  
"No, it's a family trait."  
  
"Oh. They're very nice eyes," he said, feeling compelled to compliment this lady. She smiled. "Well..." He looked at her. "You really mean it? I'll have a real family?"  
  
"Yes. With brothers and sisters... and a stepmother, if you want. A play momma, one you can have until you see your real momma again."  
  
That decided him. "Yes! Oh yes, I never had brothers and sisters!" he exclaimed.   
  
She smiled, and her eyes opened. "You do now," she said, and clasped him tight.  
  
Before he knew what was happening, he disappeared from the cottage. He was swirling in a void of nothingness, not knowing where he was. The boy would have screamed, but there was no sound- squirmed, but there was no movement.   
  
Finally, he opened his eyes to find himself curled into a little ball on the floor. He looked around to find himself surrounded by folk, all with the same strange eyes...  
  
"You belong to us now," came Zelas' voice.  
  
~*~  
  
OK, a little short, but I wanted to get this out. I hope you liked it, please review! 


End file.
